With reference to FIG. 1, a conventional flat wire conveyor belt 10 is used in a spiral system or turn application, and tension is carried on the outer edge 12 of belt 10 by reinforcing side bars 14. The pickets 16 on belt 10 are generally for product support and the rods 18 are utilized to hold the components of belt 10 together, and to transmit drive forces to the outside edge 12 of belt 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the terminal ends 20, 22 of each picket 16 is equal to or extends past the nominal picket height and include two slots 24 for receiving the rods 18. An example of such a flat wire conveyor belt is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 7,494,005, assigned to Cambridge International, Inc., the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
While the conveyor belt of the '005 patent exhibits outstanding performance and has enjoyed substantial commercial success, the length of the terminal ends on the pickets has limited its use in extremely tight radius turn belts, especially if it is also desired to have a reinforcing side bar on the inner edge of the conveyor belt.